A Mandarin Chinese Learning Program for Children
Our innovative program has been created by experienced educators and bilingual teaching staff. As young children learn whilst they are engaged and having fun we ensure that we capture the attention, interest and enthusiasm of your child whilst laying the foundations for fluency in Mandarin as they grow and develop.
Our Mandarin classes for children age 1 to 5 years are inspired by Mandarin programs already taught in private, international Pre-Schools, Kindergartens and Mandarin Playgroups in Hong Kong and China. With this inspiration, we have blended the Australian ‘playgroup’ approach in delivering our program and as a result, have created a stimulating, fun Mandarin learning experience for children aged 1 to 5 years.
We offer our program for 1 to 5 year olds across 3 classes as follows:
Bubs to Tots Groups for children age 1 to 2 years (45 minute sessions only)
Toddler Classes for children age 2 to 3 years (Choice of 1 hour or 90 minute classes)
Preschooler Classes for children age 2.5/ 3 to 5 years (Choice of 1 hour or 90 minute classes)
The Mandarin Stars Program for 1 to 5 year olds offers:
- Professionally developed and age appropriate Mandarin classes for children age 1 to 5 years that are blended into a structured Australian ‘playgroup’ style environment. (Note that children must be accompanied by a Parent/ Carer at our classes)
- Small class sizes and extra teaching support to ensure individual attention
- A curriculum that has been especially developed for both native and non-native Chinese speakers
- Activities including music, movement, singing, dramatic play, puppets, dancing, story telling, games, puzzles, art and craft, poems and rhymes to captivate and involve your child
- Interactive play with ‘Ding Ding’ the Panda, 'Ling Ling' the Monkey and 'Dong Dong' the Lion. Your child will become great friends with Mandarin Stars’ lovable mascot animals who will help to reinforce you child’s learning
- Sub group activities of up to 6 children led by a Playgroup Leader. These groups are divided according to age and level of Mandarin. From here, the children begin (age and level of Mandarin appropriate) activities to reinforce the particular themes and vocabulary for that term. Thus your child will be learning at their own pace
- An ‘immersion’ approach to teaching- we speak Mandarin 80% of the time and use gestures and pictures for reinforcement. Our focus is on enabling children to practice their listening and speaking skills in a modern immersion-based environment
- A celebration of Australian and Chinese festivals including: Chinese New Year, Lion Dancing, Moon Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Racing, Christmas, Easter, Mother and Father’s Day.
- Special invited guests teaching Chinese Calligraphy, Kung Fu, Painting and more!
- A cultural educational service that will encourage a lifelong interest in multicultural knowledge.
- Experienced, trained bilingual staff from the following fields:
o Early Childhood Education
o Teaching Community Languages
o Playgroup Co-ordination and Leadership
Our Program Development Team (PDT) are constantly researching the latest materials, books, resources and updates in teaching Mandarin to young children. They keep our classes fresh and exciting to inspire curiosity and a lifelong interest in multicultural learning. We also regularly call upon the expertise of professional Education Consultants worldwide to ensure that we are developing a first class Mandarin program for children. More recently this year, we have been engaging the consultation of Deidre O'Reilly (M.Ed. B.Ed. Montessori Dip. A.M.I).
Access to the Mandarin Stars Activity Centre!
Upon enrolment for the term, you will be able to access the online Mandarin Stars Activity Centre. Here you will be able to download an abundance of material including:
- Flashcards related to the themes taught for the term
- Sound/ Voice recordings of the flashcards (This aids our non-background speaking parents so that they check their pronunciation)
- Guides to useful phrases in Mandarin (with sound/ voice recordings) for parents to try and use at home and at playgroup (This helps to support parents in developing their own Mandarin language skills and to foster our immersion approach in teaching our program)
- Chinese and Australian nursery rhymes (with sound, translations and Pin Yin)
- Traditional Chinese recipes shared by our wonderful teaching staff. The recipes that are shared with you are local to the provinces that our teachers come from
- A weekly Activity Sheet for you and your child to complete together. This is not intensive homework- we use these activities to reinforce the themes for the term.
- The latest developments and research updates on bilingualism
- Newsbites and reviews on recently published books about bilingualism.
BOOK YOUR FREE TRIAL CLASS NOW!
© 2008 Mandarin Stars Pty Ltd (ACN 131 157 670). All rights reserved. |